Free Verse and Rhymes
by CoronaIgnis
Summary: My response to GhostDog's challenge. 10 poems, 10 characters, 10 prompts.
1. Two, but One

First off, consider this entire work disclaimed. I don't own DP and never will. That's probably a good thing.

Next, this is GhostDog's challenge. I'm not going to bother reposting the rules; there are enough people out there doing this that you can easily find the prompts and stuff without my help. If this breaches some kind of courtesy, please let me know.

* * *

><p>A cast-aside princess<br>Whose brother's cruel reign  
>Bent time itself<br>All through his domain,  
>She clings to her trinket,<br>Her strong, hidden core,  
>And wonders, what if<br>His rule was no more?

The dragon within knew what to do  
>But the princess refused.<br>So the dragon within sighed,  
>And died, and snoozed<br>And waited, and waited,  
>And waited some more,<br>Until its snores could  
>Grow into a roar.<p>

Til at long last,  
>A new princess came<br>A woman of fire,  
>A dark-burning flame<br>Who lit up the fires  
>And kindled a queen.<br>Woman met dragon, and  
>Dragon joined the team.<p>

Two became one,  
>The woman and beast<br>An amulet blazed, and  
>Time's bondage ceased.<br>A new reign is born,  
>Of princess and drake.<br>A double-souled queen  
>Rules for her people's sake.<p>

Her amulet burns  
>From its place over her gown<br>It bespeaks of the power that  
>Won her the crown.<br>It speaks of the steel  
>Neath her delicate face,<br>The dragon-queen's claws  
>And the queen-dragon's face.<p>

A ghost could not have  
>Deposed the prince.<br>A dragon would have  
>Been deposed since.<br>Yet their lady is both,  
>And neither, and none,<br>A princess and dragon,  
>Two and yet one.<p> 


	2. Outcast

She has it all: money, looks, influence.  
>She could have more: popularity, adoration, men.<br>She could have less: false friends, no depth, no soul.

She likes what she has.  
>Well, mostly.<br>She likes the rebellion,  
>The secrets, the scorn.<br>She likes being different,  
>Showing her strength,<br>Letting it shine.  
>But must she be an outcast<br>All of the time?

But this bliss, like all things,  
>Comes with a price.<p>

Her parents still love her,  
>But they don't understand her.<br>They don't know her at all.  
>They don't know her at all.<br>Streets go both ways;  
>She doesn't know them.<br>She can't understand  
>Their delight in the day,<br>Their society friends,  
>Their wines and champagnes,<br>The hushed business deals,  
>The garish pink gowns.<p>

Outcast in her family,  
>Cast out by her peers,<br>Embraced by her friends,  
>Danny and Tuck<br>And Jazz and Danielle and  
>Dora and Wulf and<br>Clockwork and Pandora  
>And Frostbite and even Undergrowth.<p>

Not much of an outcast, hmm?

* * *

><p>Characters: Sam (this chapter) and Dora (chapter 1)<p> 


	3. Escape

Straining, pushing against  
>The cursed thermos walls.<br>Snarling and grunting,  
>Vowing revenge,<br>Plotting a nightmare,  
>Burning with hate.<p>

Less than an inch  
>Of cold steel<br>Holds back the world's doom.  
>A bare centimeter<br>Of green-and-gray wall  
>Prevents his escape.<p>

But not for long, he vows.  
>It weakens. It wanes.<br>It thins and deforms,  
>It twists and it folds.<br>And then it will break,  
>And so will the worlds.<br>Fire and blood and  
>Evil and death<br>Will cover the ground,  
>Will reign supreme.<p>

But he can never escape.  
>Each time he tries,<br>The shining light,  
>Phantom victorious,<br>Beats him back.  
>He cannot escape<br>The hero's vast heart.

* * *

><p>Characters: Dora (1), Sam (2), and Dan... within Danny (3).<p> 


	4. Confused

Why boxes?  
><em>Why not?<br>_No, seriously. Why boxes?  
><em>Beware!<br>_That doesn't make sense!  
><em>Does that mean I win? <em>

_Magnificent boxes,  
><em>_Cardboard and square,  
><em>_Big boxes, small boxes,  
><em>_Here, here, and there. _

They're boxes. BOXES.  
>They're not very cool.<br>They're kind of lame, actually  
>-No offense.<br>So why boxes?

_Fantastic boxes,  
><em>_All shapes and sizes,  
><em>_Holding all kinds of  
><em>_Goods and good prizes. _

…It's cause you're nuts, isn't it.

_How I love boxes,  
><em>_And bubble wrap popping,  
><em>_Packing peanuts,  
><em>_And… and…  
><em>_I can't think of a word that rhymes with popping. _

Let's try this again.  
>Why boxes?<br>Why do you love them so much?  
>What's so special about them?<p>

_You confuse me, foolish human.  
><em>_What's not special about boxes? _

You're the confusing one!

What confuses me  
>Is why you haven't sucked him<br>Into the thermos yet. 

…Good point, little brother.

_Beware!_

* * *

><p>...No idea where this one came from.<p>

Characters: Jazz and Boxy with a little bit of Danny there at the end.


	5. Popular

Popular again,  
>Accepted once more<br>On the team,  
>By his girl,<br>By everyone in the school.  
>He can wear his<br>Letterman's jacket with pride  
>Once more.<br>It's all the same,  
>The way it was before.<p>

But it's not.  
>He tasted unpopularity,<br>Acceptance, disdain,  
>Friendship, rejection,<br>A strange, thrilling world  
>Where football was folly<br>And darkness was in.

In that world, they didn't hide.

He could grow  
>In ways he'd never grown before.<br>For the first time,  
>His poems had an audience-<br>Admittedly, a very unimpressed one,  
>But a group that<br>Accepted poetry,  
>Accepted that long-hidden,<br>Long-suppressed part of his soul.  
>They scorned his poem<br>Not because it was art  
>But because, after<br>_Listening_ and _caring  
><em>They judged it lacking.

And the friendship!  
>Were all nerds so close<br>As Fenton and Foley and Manson?  
>Friends without pretensions,<br>Friends who trusted,  
>Friends who were trusted,<br>Friends who could help.  
>He wished he<br>Had friends like that.

But he was popular again,  
>Part of the crowd.<br>He hid his poems,  
>And his dreams,<br>And his trust,  
>And his desires.<br>He played football  
>And dated cheerleaders<br>And did everything that  
>Should make him happy,<br>But couldn't.  
>Not anymore.<p>

His place at their table,  
>The table nerds only dream of,<br>Has changed. Now  
>As he sits, he watches<br>The unpopular,  
>Those whom he held in disdain.<br>Fenton is laughing.  
>Foley slaps his back.<br>Manson fights back a smile.

Kwan wishes he wasn't so popular.

* * *

><p>Character: Kwan, obviously.<p> 


	6. Blame

It's all Jack's fault.  
><em>He <em>made the proto-portal.  
><em>He <em>set it off.  
><em>He <em>locked me in the hospital  
>For years on end.<br>(I thought he was my friend)  
><em>He <em>stole my girl,  
>My beautiful Maddie<br>With her sunset hair  
>And crystal eyes<br>And tigress's heart.  
>(They didn't even invite me<br>To their wedding.  
>Why not?<br>I was out of the hospital by then).

It's all Jack's fault.  
><em>He <em>infected me.  
>(It hurt, how it hurt)<br>_He _made me a freak.  
>(The only one<br>Of my kind.  
>So alone...)<br>_He _ruined my life.  
>(I thought we were friends!)<br>_He _will pay.

It's all Daniel's fault.  
>We don't need to be rivals,<br>Little Badger.  
>Stubborn fool, can't you see<br>I'm your only hope?  
>But <em>he<em> holds you tight.  
><em>He <em>owns your heart.  
>You call him Dad….<br>One more reason to hate him, then.

It's all Jasmine's fault,  
>Tricking me like that.<br>Worming her way into my heart  
>And my home<br>And whispering her words  
>To break my defenses.<br>(Now both of  
>Maddie's children hate me)<p>

It's all Danielle's fault.  
>Treacherous brat,<br>Betraying me like that!  
>I created her.<br>I brought her to life.  
>I raised her, and fed her,<br>(and used her, and hurt her  
>and cared nothing for her).<br>She owes me!  
>(But does she?)<br>I hope she melts.

It's all Jack's fault!  
>He left me in space,<br>Abandoning me once more  
>Like he did back in college.<br>Are you happy now, Jack?  
>Are you <em>glad<em> that I'm out of your hair?  
>Well, you won't be happy long!<br>The Disasteroid is almost there.

Wait. What's this?  
>It's going through?<br>But- how?  
><em>Daniel.<br>_He's saved the world again,  
>And he still calls Jack Dad.<p>

It's all Jack's fault.  
>The world is safe, but<br>What about me?  
>They've forgotten me,<br>All alone here in space.  
>Nothing to breathe<br>(Good thing I don't need to,  
>At least not in this form),<br>Nothing to eat,  
>Nothing to drink.<br>Abandonment!  
>Loathsome Lethe!<p>

It's all Jack's-  
>Oh, who am I kidding?<br>It _is_ Jack's fault,  
>And Daniel's,<br>And Jasmine's,  
>And Danielle's,<br>But most of all,  
>The fault is my own.<p> 


	7. Eyes

Watcher, they call him,  
>In awed, wondering voices,<br>The Master of Time, who  
>Knows all of our choices.<p>

Those eyes, red as blood,  
>Have seen far too much:<br>He sees countless horrors  
>But is helpless to touch.<p>

Well, mostly helpless.  
>For every few years,<br>Those eyes light up,  
>And he silently cheers.<p>

Here is a way he  
>Can stop nightmarish fate.<br>He can- must- intervene  
>Before it's too late.<p>

But most of the time,  
>He can only but sigh<br>The world go to Hades  
>And turn away his eyes.<p>

* * *

><p>Clockwork angst! Have you guys ever thought about how awful it must be to see the world mess up but be helpless to stop it? Poor guy needs therapy from Jazz.<p> 


	8. Shot

Shot through the heart and afraid he might die,  
>The pale, gasping halfa drops down from the sky<br>Desperate to live, desperate to try.

He clutches his wounds as the hero retreats,  
>Ducking into the unlit backstreets<br>As blood gushes forth each time his heart beats.

Two rings surround him, brilliant and bright,  
>And a red-blooded human slinks out of the light<br>Grateful that it is almost midnight.

He trudges home, clutching his chest,  
>Tired and slow, yearning to rest<br>But knowing he can't 'til his wound is dressed.

His sister is waiting there by the door.  
>She lays him out upon the floor<br>And turns away, teary once more.

She brings gauzes and needles and threads.  
>She wipes away tears and once again heads<br>To her brother, who lies like one of the dead.

"Mom and Dad, right?" she says with a sigh.  
>Her brother nods, not opening his eyes.<br>She dresses his wounds and tries not to cry.

Their parents return when the blood is all gone,  
>Raving about their hate for their son,<br>That thrice-accursed Phantom, the devil's own spawn.

Devil's spawn indeed, the child decides,  
>Rubbing his chest where a new wound resides<br>With so many others in his heart and sides.

The parents who shot him smile and say,  
>"Don't worry, kids, we'll get him one day!<br>We promise you, kiddos, we'll find a way!"

And the son who was shot forces a smile  
>As his injuries heal and he forces down bile<br>And his sad sister watches all the while.

* * *

><p>Even without Pariah Dark in the mix, the Fentons have a really messed up relationship.<p> 


	9. Gone

Finally free,  
>The young woman soars<br>Off into the sunset.  
>Wind whips through her hair,<br>Sometimes black, now white,  
>Once tied back, now hanging loose.<p>

She leaves everything behind  
>For strange new worlds,<br>For art, for beauty,  
>For momentous events,<br>For the ends of the earth.

If she chooses, she  
>Could climb Mount Everest<br>Or touch the mighty Sphinx  
>Or ride to the top of the Eifel Tower.<br>She could go spelunking in Samoa  
>Or ride the world's biggest coaster.<p>

She's free, free, free, free!  
>No more wasted weeks,<br>No more melting fears,  
>No more nightmares of<br>The man she once thought loved her  
>Like a father loves his daughter.<br>Only soft, small regrets  
>Make her glance over her shoulder.<p>

Freedom is lonely.  
>She turns back to the east,<br>Or the west, or the north-  
>Whichever direction leads<br>To Amity Park and her only family.  
>Then she shakes herself<br>And is gone, off into the sunset,  
>Seeking the next great adventure,<br>Running from the one  
>She left behind.<p>

And miles away,  
>To the east or the west or the north,<br>A youth looks west,  
>Or east, or south-<br>Whichever direction leads  
>To Danielle, his only twin.<br>A tear beads in his eye,  
>And falls, and is gone,<br>Just like her.


	10. Love

_Squeak, squeak.  
><em>Cujo chews.  
><em>Squeak, squeak,<br>_Says his favorite toy,  
>The one the nice<br>Human-ghost boy  
>Helped him fetch<br>Not that long ago.

He loves his toy.  
><em>Squeak, squeak.<br>_Cujo thinks as he chews.  
>The boy is nice.<br>The boy is fun.  
>Cujo decides<br>He loves the boy  
>Almost as much<br>As he loves his toy.  
><em>Squeak, squeak.<br>_(But not quite as much.  
>His toy is<br>Pretty hard to beat.)

How can Cujo  
>Thank the boy<br>For saving his toy  
>And playing,<br>And romping,  
>And petting him?<p>

He stops chewing-  
>No more squeaks-<br>To think as hard  
>As a dog can think.<p>

Cujo knows!  
>If he loves his toy,<br>Then so will the boy  
>And his almost-mate<br>And his pack-friend  
>Who pounds on metal.<br>They can all  
>Play together!<br>Cujo grabs the toy and  
>Flies away.<p>

The boy is fighting.  
>Cujo helps.<br>He bites the  
>Mean hunting female<br>And barks.  
>She get mad.<br>Really mad.  
>She shoots at him<br>And destroys his toy.

No! No!  
>Cujo yowls in despair.<br>His toy! His beloved toy!  
>He bites the<br>Mean hunting female  
>For revenge.<br>She shoots him,  
>And he yips in pain.<p>

The boy takes him  
>To the place<br>With the portal  
>And lays him<br>On a soft bed.  
>Cujo bleeds.<br>The boy, human again,  
>Makes him better.<p>

Cujo hides for days  
>In the boy's den,<br>Avoiding the other hunters  
>Like the boy<br>Told him to.  
>When the boy comes back,<br>He wags his tail  
>And begs for belly rubs.<br>The boy always gives them.

And Cujo loves the boy.

When he's all better,  
>The boy gives him<br>A present.  
>It's a new toy!<br>It's just like his old toy!  
>Cujo licks his face.<br>The boy laughs.

Cujo goes back home  
>With his gift.<br>He now loves the boy  
>Much more than his toy.<br>_Squeak, squeak._

* * *

><p><em>...<em>I don't think this is exactly what GhostDog had in mind for this prompt. Oh well.

-Corona


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